Evaluation of corn planter under travel speed, working depth, pressure wheel and cone index

Abstract

Compaction is one of the restricting factors in desirable seed germination and root growth. As a sign for soil compaction can be a criterion for optimal seed germination. Seeds require some compression of the surrounding soil at planting for optimum growth, which it is made by pressure wheels in planters. Travel speed and working depth affect the soil cone index. A field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of the speed and working depth in the beginning of the autumn season. Experiments were performed in the form of factorial split-plot based on a randomized complete block design with two factors, the travel speed (3, 4, and 6 km/h) and working depth (3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 cm) in three replication. Digital cone Penetrometer was used for measuring soil cone index of sandy-loamy soil at the depths ranging from 1 to 20 cm. The results showed that the cone index reduced by the increasing of average speed, also the cone index Increased with the increasing depth.